Seminar on education in Rare and Critical Materials
Duration: -
Location: EMPA Dübendorf

On February 27, Empa, SATW and ESM hosted a successful seminar (link in German) about education in Rare and Critical Materials (see also EMPA’s website). See here the presentations held at the seminar (password protected). A report will follow soon.

Even materials scientists and engineers are often insufficiently informed about Rare and Critical Materials, even though they play a crucial role in the value chain, have a significant impact on the production costs and are (therefore) also a risk factor regarding supply bottlenecks and conflicts with regulations.

In order to help spread knowledge about these issues, ESM, Empa and the SATW invited to a seminar for teachers, lecturers and politicians to exchange experiences with experts in industry and research. Based on two surveys on the state of education of the field concerned in Switzerland („Awareness on use of Critical Raw Materials in education and research“ by MatSearch Consul-ting and FEMS, 2016/2017, and „Teaching Resources on Critical Raw Materials“ by the SusCritmat project), the seminar discussed different approaches on how to further develop education about Rare and Critical Raw Materials in Switzerland, thereby laying the cornerstone for a “Roadmap” for new teaching modules for the coming years.

The workshop is sponsored by the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW) and carried out by ESM and Empa.